Using Telehealth to Improve Care Transitions

Problem:

Ineffective care transitions processes lead to an increase in adverse events for patients, more frequent readmissions and higher healthcare costs. These readmissions are most commonly a problem for patients with chronic illnesses that require complex care in order to keep them out of the hospital.

The Goal:

Beaufort Memorial Hospital's Bridge to Home Care Transitions program is designed to help facilitate better transitions from the hospital to the next care provider. For high-risk patients that are returning home, the program uses a home health monitoring system that allows staff to keep better track of how the patient is doing on a daily basis. This information allows quicker, more efficient interventions and helps prevent returns to the hospital.

Method & Implementation:

The program secured a small grant that allowed Beaufort Memorial to purchase monitoring and medical equipment to track patients' blood pressure, blood sugar and weight at home, as well as their prescription drug information and other medical data.

To learn more about Beaufort Memorial's pilot program, a full SCHA story is available here.

For more information about this story or to tell us about your own best practices, email us at stories@scha.org.